


Whole Life Falls in Line

by sepiapages



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, SO FLUFFY, first I love you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 14:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7805962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepiapages/pseuds/sepiapages
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was supposed to be their best show yet, but it all goes wrong. Then everything goes right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whole Life Falls in Line

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to katiethebeat for the prompt!!! and heavydiirtysoul for the title. (from the song "i get to love you" by Ruelle.) dun cum squad always helpin' out.

It was supposed to be one of their best shows yet—their first arena, sold out, the queue lining up for hours beforehand, Tyler’s voice felt clear and Josh felt loose and full of excitement—but for some reason, everything seemed to have gone wrong.

Tyler tripped about twelve times, ranging from tiny little skips that no one probably noticed to nearly falling on his face on the way back from climbing a pillar for Car Radio. Josh broke a stick two songs in, then some technical connection failed and his drums stopped working correctly, he almost fell off the platform during Ride, and then he dropped a stick during Trees. The fans thought it was great as he finished up with his forearm, walking away with more than a few bruises, but everything added up and as soon as the two musicians left the stage, the smile dropped from their faces and heavy sighs and scowls replaced them.

Josh, ever the optimist, tried his best to count the things that went right. However, everything he could come up with was simply routine and Tyler wasn’t even ranting happily about something a fan had done like usual.

They had almost a week in between this show and the next, so they collapsed into the tour buses readily.

“I feel kind of guilty for not staying around to meet anybody,” Tyler murmured after they’d been on the road for a while.

Josh looked up from his phone—he avoided Twitter for reasons he didn’t completely understand himself, instead scrolling through the clique art instagram account—and chewed his lip. “Yeah, I do too. It’s okay, though. You can’t be perfect. Nobody hates you for it.”

Tyler’s frown only grew. He had barely touched his phone, letting himself drown in his own anxieties and replaying all the mistakes in his head. Josh shut off his phone and left the chair to sit on the couch next to Tyler, quickly shifting closer to the singer. Tyler welcomed it and turned to open himself to Josh, who took the opportunity to tuck himself right up against his side and wrap his arm around Tyler’s shoulders. He nuzzled his face into Tyler’s neck.

“We did great. Mistakes happen. The next show will be the best one ever, I bet.” Josh’s calming voice usually helped immensely, but Tyler felt a mental block in his head that refused to let him calm down.

The obvious tension made Josh pout. He began to gently massage Tyler’s shoulders. “Loosen yourself up, okay? Deep breaths, Ty. Relax. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

Tyler finally let Josh’s voice slowly break down the wall in his mind and eased back into the couch, closing his eyes as Josh worked through his tense muscles. “I ever tell you how much you mean to me, Jish?” he whispered, grinning with his eyes still closed.

“Hmm… I dunno. Maybe.” He could hear the smile in Josh’s voice. “Why don’t you be sure of it?”

“You mean the world to me, Joshua,” Tyler replied quietly. Josh laughed breathily. Tyler sat up, away from Josh’s magical fingers, and looked him in the eye. “No, no. I’m serious. I love you, Josh.”

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in and Josh’s eyes lit up.

They’d been unofficially together for many months now, after admitting the obvious attraction, but they’d agreed to take it slow and not push it. This usually meant cuddling and more hand holding than before, but the farthest they’d gone is kisses on non-intimate skin, but not lips. (Mostly cheeks and foreheads and noses and necks and hands… Tyler really liked hands. He would pretend Josh was a prince and he was getting blessed by royalty.) But they couldn’t deny how curious they were getting.

They hadn’t said “I love you” yet either. So now here they were. Tyler had barely registered the words falling off his tongue, and his heart had skipped a beat alongside Josh’s reaction.

“I-I love you, too, Tyler,” Josh whispered, forming the words carefully in his mouth and sending them into the air only for Tyler’s ears. They landed in the space between Tyler’s ribs where his life began gently, like a satin-wrapped gift.

The room seemed a little brighter as the two smiled softly for a few more seconds before they were giggling and big-toothed grins split their faces. “Come here,” Josh said through the laughter. “Shh, c’mere.”

Tyler felt lighter than he had all day as Josh reached around to place his palm at the back of his neck and pull him closer. They were so in synch their hearts may have been beating the same beats and neither complained as their lips met, the smile still stuck to them. Their calloused hands slowly explored the skin under cloths and the hums of pleasure stirred the most happiness Tyler could remember feeling at any one time.

Josh finally let him go and Tyler fell back against the couch, his hands still reaching out to his boyfriend. He leaned over to plant a kiss on Josh’s shoulder and Josh fumbled for his hand, pulling it up to his lips and kissing it gently. He looked up through his eyelashes as Tyler couldn’t help the blush and giggles shaking his body.

“I like this,” the poet breathed, his chocolate eyes wide and lacking any trace of worry.

“I really like this,” the human heartbeat responded, returning the look. “I like this a lot.”


End file.
